((So, that's my gift for @do-he-got-the-aobooty-he-do , for the dmmdsecretsanta. Hope you like it. It's post-anime, btw.)) Accidentally It wasn't a nice surprise to Koujaku when he showed up at Aoba's place and found a certain blonde brat at the dinnertable. Of course, their relationship had improved a little since they had to work together at Platinum Jail, but he still didn't trust Noiz completely. He didn't have many reasons to. At first glance, he almost didn't recognized him. Since the last time they've saw each other, Noiz had removed his piercings and was now wearing a suit, which was a nice improvement from his previous greenish outfit. By recognizing those piercing green eyes and the smug grin on that face, he frowned, what seemed to make the younger's grin grow even wider. "Missed me, old man?" Koujaku gritted his teeth. Not long after Noiz vanished from the island, he and Aoba somehow ended up talking about him. Aoba didn't spew out any details, but he told Koujaku that Noiz had been trough a hard situation, that he was a good person despite what it seemed and that they shouldn't fight each other so often. It looked like he didn't had a talk like that with the brat, though. "Can't say that I did" As the older, he had to keep his calm and be the mature one. But that didn't meant he couldn't be honest. And it was mature enough of him not to add 'shitty brat' at the end of that sentence. Noiz shrugged, "Well, can't say that I care, so we're fine." After that, they sat in silence until Aoba spoke out, "Now that you guys finished the greetings... How long will you be staying in Midorijima, Noiz?" "Just a couple days.", he shrugged again, hoping they wouldn't ask too much about it. Actually, he didn't have much of a reason to come back to the island. He wanted Aoba to see how much he changed over the past few months, and doing it in person was far better than trough Coil, but besides that? He thought it may be good to stay some time on his own again, even if it was just for a few days. Getting the job as his brother's assistant involved being around people more than he was used to, including his parents once in a while, and sometimes it was a bit too much. "Eh, so little time? Is it because of work?" "Sort off", Noiz took the opportunity to avoid more questions, "What's the name of this?", he asked, pointing at one of the foods on the table. The rest of the dinner went quite smoothly, and they parted ways after that. As Noiz would be spending so little time in Midorijima, Koujaku thought that they wouldn't be seeing each other again, and he was completely fine with it. He had to admit that the brat's presence wasn't so annoying as it used to be, but he wouldn't miss him or anything. He never expected Aoba to organize a small gathering on the day before the date Noiz was supposed to leave. He never expected that when he arrived, Mizuki would be busy with a client in the tattoo parlor and no one else besides Noiz would have arrived, leaving the two of them alone. They sat next to each other in silence for a while. Noiz had a empty glass in front of him, and he looked quite interested in sliding his index finger over the tiny drops of water that still rested on it's surface. Not interested in the sense of doing-it-to-avoid-conversation, but truly interested, as if he really was enjoying that sensation. And he was. One of the new sensations he grew most fond of was feeling water against his skin. "So... Have you talked to the other guys from Ruff Rabbit?" Noiz looked up to face Koujaku, his light green irises appearing much less interest now. "No. Why would I? I'm no longer part of the team." "Yeah, but you gotta have at least a friend or two you'd like to talk with now that you're back, right?", Koujaku knew that Rhyme teams didn't work the same way as Rib's, but in his opinion it was impossible to work along other people without creating some bonds. "No, I don't." Noiz spoke it without a hint of emotion in his voice and looked the other way, clearly bored. Koujaku kept staring at him, and started to wonder about the things Aoba told him. About how the brat was only nineteen. About how he'd been trough a hard situation. His eyes moved to the back of the younger's left hand, to the ugly scars marking his pale skin. "Want to know how I got them?" His eyes flew right back to Noiz's face, who was now staring back at him. "I... I won't say I'm not curious, but you don't have to tell if you don't want to." "It's fine, I don't care. I've got them when I was a kid. This one", he traced a small scar, close to his wrist, "is from when I fell from a tree. All the other ones... are from when my parents locked me in a room.", despite stating that he didn't care, there was some hesitance in his voice, "In the first weeks... or maybe months, I spent a lot of time trying to break down the door." Koujaku heard the words, but his mind needed some seconds to process that information. "... Months? Why would they... Why would anyone do something terrible like that?", he knew a lot about how cruel people could be, but that surprised him, in the worst possible way. And seeing the way Noiz talked about it, as if he wasn't talking about himself, made it even worse. He was only nineteen... "I... before Aoba used Scrap on me, I wasn't able to feel pain, so when I was a kid, I didn't understand that I was hurting the other children. They complained to their parents, that complained to my parents. To avoid me staining even more our family's reputation, they locked me way" Koujaku said something after that, but Noiz didn't pay attention. He was distracted by the look in his eyes. He didn't know if it was because of their color, but Koujaku's eyes always striked him as intense. And right now, those eyes were looking at him filled with something that he couldn't quite make out. He only knew that it wasn't pity, as he expected, and that it had a warmth that made him feel good. In that moment, Aoba walked in followed by Clear, and Noiz took advantage of it to clear his mind of those thoughts. He shouldn't be thinking too much about it. After that, they barely spoke a single word to each other. Due to their usual antagonizing posture, the others didn't thought much of it, just being glad that they weren't throwing insults at each other as they used to. Koujaku was trying to keep their previous conversation out of his mind, but it seemed impossible. Now he understood much better what Aoba'd said, and that knowledge was threatening to completely change his opinions about Noiz. Also, it was making him pay much more attention to the younger boy than he ever did before. He still acted the same as ever, but it was incredible how much was altered by a change in perspective. Koujaku found out that now he didn't hate the cocky smile that occasionally lifted Noiz's lips. His annoying jokes were now becoming a bit funnier than before. Damn it, he was thinking too much about it. Perhaps with a few more drinks he would be able to stop it and actually enjoy the party. Noiz was trying to do the same. But his notion of 'a few more drinks' diverged a bit from Koujaku's. He didn't think he was that much drunk, but no one was fine with letting him go back alone to the hotel where he was staying, so he decided that it wouldn't be that bad to accept Koujaku's offer to walk him there. They walked mostly in silence, with Koujaku often reaching out to keep the younger from tripping on his own feet. In one of these times, they found themselves with their faces millimeters away from each other. Noiz's alcohol fogged mind noticed it, and emphasized some details he didn't notice before. He never denied the fact that Koujaku was handsome - even though he'd never say it out loud -, but this was the first time he was actually seeing how long his eyelashes were, or how attractive his lips were. Suddenly, he felt really conscious about how he hadn't kissed no one since he regained his senses. Suddenly, he really wanted to know how it felt like. So he reached out his hand to the older's face and turned it in his direction. The confused look on Koujaku's face grew even more confused once Noiz leaned closer and pressed their lips together. "Wha...-!", when he realized what was happening, he tried to pull away, but Noiz stopped him from it by grabbing his jaw and sliding his tongue over Koujaku's bottom lip. Then, Koujaku did something he'd probably regret later. He kissed back. With that, Noiz's grip on his jaw loosened. If Koujaku tried to push away this time, he'd be successful in it, but.. He didn't want to. Noiz wasn't a particularly good kisser, his breath smelled like alcohol, but his lips were soft and warm. If Koujaku was just a bit more sober, he'd definitely find a thousand and one reasons to stop it, to push Noiz away. But he wasn't, and the only thing in his mind was how good it felt. Noiz was the one who broke the kiss, staring at the older man with something close to hunger in his eyes. It was an attractive expression, but it was also a dangerous one. "... What was that for?", Koujaku asked, slightly out of breath. "Dunno... jus felt like it", while answering, Noiz pressed his right hand against Koujaku's chest, slowly sliding it down, feeling the muscles under his palm, "Oi, aren't you supposed to walk me home? We're almost there." "You were the one distracting me, brat.", as soon as he closed his mouth, he saw the smile on Noiz lips and realized he'd chose the wrong words, "No, not distracting, I should have said disturbing." Noiz chuckled, "You're a boring old man." Once they reached the hotel, he tried to convince Koujaku into going up to his room, and called him names much worse than 'boring' when he refused to. But after the third 'no', he gave up and went to his room by himself. Koujaku couldn't stop thinking about what happened. He wanted to stop, he tried to convince himself that it was just a kiss, that it only happened because they were quite drunk, and that it didn't matter since Noiz would be leaving Midorijima in less than twenty four hours. But he failed. He couldn't stop remembering how it felt, and even if the brat had said he did it just because he 'felt like it', Koujaku still wondered if that really was his reason. The first thing he did when he got home was to get ready to sleep. Maybe that way he'd be able to get rid of those thoughts. But once again, he failed. He had some insomniac nights once in a while, and tonight happened to be one of those. And... he didn't regret his choice, but now he was thinking 'what if?'. What if he had went to Noiz's room? The brat's intentions were clearer than water, and Koujaku knew what would've happened. They were both guys, but, despite what his reputation as a womanizer might imply, he wouldn't have a problem with that. He had come to terms with it since realizing his true feelings for Aoba - realization that somehow happened at the same time as the beginning of Clear's relationship with Aoba. Noiz was attractive, specially without that abomination of a beanie he used to wear, and if he was sober while inviting Koujaku to his room... there was a chance that the answer wouldn't be 'no'. A big chance. And that thought got him confused like hell. A few days ago... actually, a few hours ago, he'd never even consider the idea. It was Noiz, after all. The guy he couldn't stand. The guy he used to fight all the time. Koujaku groaned against his pillow. Soon, Noiz would be leaving, and maybe having him so far away would keep those weird thoughts out of his head. The problem was... Noiz didn't leave. When he woke up the next morning, his first thoughts were dedicated to his killing hangover. He wasn't one to drink a lot, and in the times he did, he didn't have to deal with headaches. Then, he started to think about the events that lead to it and one word popped in his mind. A name. Koujaku. They had talked, and it wasn't that bad. They had kissed, and it wasn't bad at all. All the thoughts he'd tried to drown in alcohol were back, and stronger. He knew it was stupid, that he had a plane to catch in a few hours and that the last thing he should be doing was thinking like that about the old man, but... Somehow, he ended up at Koujaku's door, knocking impatiently. There was something he had to know. "... Noiz?", to say Koujaku was surprised would be an euphemism. His scarlet eyes were incredibly wide, looking as if he had seen a ghost. "Yeah, it's me. Can I come in?" He nodded and stepped to the side, allowing Noiz to walk in. "What are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to be packing your stuff, to go back to Germany?", asked Koujaku, yet not completely recovered from the shock. Was it possible to summon a person by thinking too much about them or something like that? "There's something I want to ask. About last night.", Koujaku's first guess would be that the brat's memories were blurry due to the amount of alcohol in his system, and he wanted to clarify some things, but he was completely wrong, "Why did you say no?" That unexpected question caught him completely off guard, "... You were drunk.", he said, the truth coming from his lips almost automatically, "I didn't want you to do something you might regret later." "Oh.", Noiz seemed to consider it for a while, "So it wasn't because you had no interest in it?", a sly smile bent his lips. The old man turned away his eyes, a faint blush rising to his cheeks. He didn't answered the question, what Noiz took as an confirmation. "Actually, I don't have to go back today. I just didn't have anything interesting to do here." "Didn't?", Koujaku couldn't help but notice the use of the past tense, "Do you have now?" "You tell me. Do I?" Those light green eyes were staring straight into the scarlet ones, defiance clearly written on them. The implied question was also clear, so Koujaku paid close attention to the words he chose to use. "... Can't say that you don't." Noiz smiled. "Good to know."
